Based on the board game of the same name, 221 B Baker St. pits up to four players against each other in a race to solve mysteries set in Victorian London. After picking a character (Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Irene Adler, or Inspector Lestrade), players select one of the thirty available mysteries and read its case file in the game's manual. The case file presents the particulars of the case, mentions the people involved, and explains what the players need to deduce to win the game.
Solving the mysteries entails moving around London (the game board) via a roll of the dice, entering locales to collect clues, and then piecing the clues together. Among the fifteen locations available are a pub, a park, and a bank, and each location is brought to life with voice synthesis. Each location will have a clue, but not all clues will be useful.
Before solving the case, players must visit Scotland Yard for a badge. Players might also want to use a badge to lock a location with a useful clue, requiring other players to detour to the locksmith. Once a player believes they have solved the case, they must return to Baker Street and answer a quiz. If the player is incorrect, the other players can continue.
Mystery buffs such as me are always looking for the next great mind-busting case. ... And this isn't it. Although to its respect, a very formidable try in capturing the "go-to-different-places-and-collect-clues" fun of... Clue. Yes this is basically all 221B Baker St. is. A game of Clue, with 4 selectable players, including the famed Sherlock Holmes. And in similar Board Game style fashion... You roll the 6-sided die, and make your moves. Along the way buildings may be entered and you collect clues.
Many cases can be chosen. With different clues to collect, you enter each building and the people within it give you some personal information about the suspects, or other info. Along the way you look for clues marked as "General Motive" which is sort of like a riddle telling you why they did it. And killer clues which gives a crucial piece of information about obviously; the killer. It's most likely an appearance hint, or something similar.
Once you think you know who the killer is, what he/she killed with, and why they did it. Go to the Police Station, or some other special locations that harbor "Badges" and ask for one. You can then take your badge back to 221B Baker St. and solve the crime. By answering the three inquiries I stated above. If you're right. Congrats, a couple of screens appear telling you in detail why the killer did it, his motive, and how he committed the crime. If you're wrong... The game doesn't end surprisingly. You can go look for more clues, or be a loser and get another free badge. Meaning if you have enough patience... You could basically solve the crime by guessing. And there's just no fun in that.
That's really all there is to this game. Although simple, there are a few cases within that truly make you think. You also have the option of making ALL the clues "Coded" meaning they're in some sort of code, my guess scrambled. I didn't play on this mode allot, cause I wanted to solve mysteries, not play Jumble.
All-in-all a pretty fun game, certainly worth a look if you enjoy any sort of mystery game, and casual gamers might find promise in this. Otherwise, it's nothing that special to write home about (Although I don't know why you would write home about a game).
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes. Undeniably the most famous detective ever (fictional of course)! His pipe and hat are the first thing that comes to mind when I think of him. I loved the books along with many other mystery novels. There is something about that era in history where mystery fits in perfectly. The quiet dim dark misty London streets are the perfect setting for a crime, and a supercool detective to solve them.
This game was great for its time. It bought together 30 cases for a super-sleuth such as yourself to solve, with the cases being fun and offering a variety of challenges. You make your way around the city stopping in at various locations, questioning people and finding clues. I guess it's a bit like Cluedo, you have to figure out suspects, motives and weapons etc.
The locations in London are pretty cool, and fit the theme nicely. There are the shipyards, museum, pawnbrokers and pub to name a few. When you enter the buildings, you go into a bigger room where you can do your detective work.
Then when you think you are ready to solve the crime you venture back to 221B Baker Street and take a test. But, there is much more to the game then merely wandering around solving crime. You have to get your Scotland Yard badge before you can take the test at 221B Baker Street. If you fail the test, then shame on you! You probably did not take enough time and interrogate enough people ;)
You can encrypt clues to make the game harder, but I guess that once you have played it about 10x through encryption just won't do you much good. But it does make the game a lot harder.
Overall, I enjoyed the game. I got a bit bored as the characters and the board never really changed, but it was still a lot of fun :) While nowadays they could probably make a really cool version of this game, this was a classic and I would play it again.
How to run this game on modern Windows PC?
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